Shohei Ohtani & the history of MVP streaks
Only Ohtani & Barry Bonds have won more than 2 MVPs in a row. Ohtani will try to match Bonds with a 4th straight in 2026
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 24: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gives a speech after accepting the 2025 NL MVP Award during the 2026 BBWAA Awards Dinner at New York Hilton Midtown on Saturday, January 24, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images While the Dodgers are striving to be the last team standing for the third season in a row, they aren’t alone in their quest to be the best for a long stretch of time. Shohei Ohtani won National League MVP in each of his first two years with the Dodgers, the only player in franchise history to win that award in consecutive years.
But he also won American League MVP in 2023 with the Angels, so he’s on a streak of three MVPs in a row, and four in the last five years. Barry Bonds is the only other player in MLB history to win more than two MVP awards in a row. Bonds explored the limits of science in winning four consecutive NL MVPs with the San Francisco Giants from 2001-04, during which he hit an eye-popping .
349/. 559/. 809 from ages 36-39.
Thirteen other players won two MVP awards in a row, and Bonds himself also won consecutive awards in 1992 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1993 with the Giants. In all, there have been 17 MLB seasons in which a player was trying for a third straight MVP. Player Year bWAR fWAR MVP finish Jimmie Foxx 1934 8.